UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
SCHOOL OF LAW
MAY 10 • 10 a.m.
COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM
PRESIDENT’S PROCESSION Live Fanfare
*GRAND MARSHALL
Scott Sundby, J.D., B.A.
Robert C. Josefsberg Endowed Chair in Criminal Justice Advocacy Dean's Distinguished Scholar
*CENTENNIAL BANNER MARSHALL
*CONVOCATION OPENING
*NATIONAL ANTHEM
*INVOCATION
Stephen Schnably, J.D., A.B. Professor of Law
Patricia Sanchez Abril
Interim Dean
Jordan Craig School of Law Class of 2025
Rabbi Jason Cook Jewish chaplain, University of Miami
Imam Abdul Hamid Samra
Muslim chaplain, University of Miami
Father Richard Vigoa Catholic chaplain, University of Miami
INTRODUCTION OF DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
Gullermo “Willy” Prado
Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost WELCOME
Joseph James Echevarria
President and Chief Executive Officer, University of Miami Chief Executive Officer, UHealth
INTRODUCTION OF COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Patty Menendez Cambo Presiding Trustee
ADVICE TO GRADUATES Dov Seidman
Founder and Chairman of LRN and The HOW Institute for Society, and Author of “HOW”
PRESENTATION OF DEGREE CANDIDATES Interim Dean Abril
CONFERRAL OF DEGREES
STUDENT ADDRESS
President Echevarria
Diego Troncoso Breton Class of 2025
CLOSING REMARKS Interim Dean Abril
*ALMA MATER
Jordan Craig
*RECESSIONAL Recessional March
After the singing of the Alma Mater, please remain standing until the faculty and candidates have exited the Watsco Center. The words to the Alma Mater can be found on the last page of this program.
*Those who are able are asked to stand for these portions of the program. At the conclusion of the program, the audience will please remain standing until the platform party has left the stage.
COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
DOV SEIDMAN
Founder and Chairman of LRN and The HOW Institute for Society, and Author of “HOW”
A visionary entrepreneur, CEO, author, and teacher, Dov Seidman has devoted his life and career to elevating individual behavior and helping organizations create ethical, winning cultures. Seidman is the founder and chairman of LRN, the leading ethics and compliance company, and The HOW Institute for Society. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller "HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything." Seidman’s HOW philosophy underscores the belief that how we conduct ourselves and lead our organizations is paramount to success in contemporary society.
Growing up, Seidman, a dyslexic, struggled in school. His late acceptance into the University of California, Los Angeles led him to enroll in philosophy courses as all other classes were full. This unforeseen avenue shaped his future. Graduating summa cum laude with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy in 1987, he furthered his education at Oxford University, earning a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics while serving as captain of the Balliol College crew team. Seidman then earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in1992.
A few months after graduating, Seidman founded LRN with a powerful vision to “democratize legal knowledge.” Seven days after he opened LRN’s doors, The Wall Street Journal wrote a front-page article, “Law Firm Fat Threatened by Lean Network,” describing Seidman’s idea for LRN “as simple as it is revolutionary.” The American Lawyer soon thereafter profiled Seidman in “Should you be afraid of this man?” highlighting the potential of LRN’s model “to revolutionize the legal profession.” Seidman expanded LRN to help companies create legally aware and ethically inspired workforces. LRN became one of the first SaaS (Software as a Service) companies, pioneering the field of online ethics and compliance education. Today, LRN works with thousands of organizations and has educated more than 50 million employees in over 100 countries on how to navigate complex legal and regulatory environments and make ethical decisions.
LRN is widely recognized for having shaped the modern-day ethics and compliance industry. Seidman’s testimony before the U.S. Sentencing Commission urged corporations to transcend a compliance-only mindset, advocating for corporate cultures grounded in ethics. His proposals have become the standards by
which companies, cultures, and programs are evaluated.
His dedication to nurturing the next generation of leaders is also evident in his work with The HOW Institute for Society, which he founded in 2019 to instill a culture of moral leadership, values-based behavior, and principled decision-making at every level and sector of society. With its NXTGEN Fellowship in Moral Leadership, The HOW Institute works with leading institutions to develop managers who lead with moral authority and ensure that these leaders occupy positions of formal authority in their respective organizations.
Many publications have recognized Seidman’s contributions, with The New York Times naming him a “groundbreaker” and Time magazine calling him a “game changer.” As Fortune magazine put it, “his ability to take the challenges that CEOs and other leaders face in their day-today roles and place them in a broader context of decisionmaking” has made him a distinguished voice at various global gatherings including: Vatican City, National Football League, Steve Jobs Theater, and Pauley Pavillion where he gave the 2002 commencement address “Do the Right Thing.”
Seidman serves on the boards of organizations aligned with his mission, including the Ellison Medical Institute, 92NY, Planet Word and The Elie Wiesel Foundation. Seidman has played the leading role in awarding the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics to college students. Seidman received the Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League.
In 2022, Seidman was appointed a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School. The University of Miami School of Law has benefited from Seidman's annual visits to teach in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Program in which HOW is used as the foundational textbook.
Seidman's impact is profound and far-reaching, offering invaluable lessons to young leaders embarking on their careers. His approach emphasizes that success is an outgrowth of pursuing a journey of significance and that people stand to gain advantage by not just outperforming the competition but by “outbehaving” it.
For inspiring the next generation of leaders in prioritizing ethics in their personal and professional lives, the University of Miami is proud to welcome Dov Seidman as the School of Law's 2025 commencement speaker.
CANDIDATES FOR DEGREES
The awarding of degrees to the candidates named in this program is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of the appropriate requirements by each candidate. The listing of a student’s name in this program in no way implies or insures his or her graduation or the award of honors. Individual candidates have elected not to have their respective awards or honors recognized in this program.
SPRING 2025
DOCTOR OF JURIDICAL SCIENCE
Joanna Harris
MASTER OF LAWS IN ENTERTAINMENT, ARTS AND SPORTS LAW
Catherine E. Adams (C)
Nathalie E. Adams (C)
Heather Anbar (M)
Roberto Barbery Cronembold
Michaelina Mei Barker
Christian Ramon Benson (C)
Samantha Ann Bly
Sophia A. Burke
Kennedy Logan Byrd
Gabriella Castillo Castillo
Jordan Craig (C)
Manuela Alegria Darquea Placencia
Guilherme de Libero de Freitas Maciel
Benjamin T. Garonzik
Jeremy Idan Griff
Isabella Guerra Ceron
Erica Elizabeth Hamilton (C)
Alejandro Jimenez Afanador
Joshua Katz
Aditi Ajay Kawdikar
Gabrielle Lucido (C)
Sophia Magill (C)
Fernando Luis Martinez Torres
Lucas Maurice
Christopher J. Olson
Toni Oppenheim (C)
Braden Rudy Philip Paes
Rachael M. Ross
Connor Anthony Runnalls
Esther O. Segan (M)
Michael G. Shahinian
Lauren J. Skidmore (C)
Vanessa M. Swartz
Ramon Luis Velez-Ortiz
Dylan O. Weingarden
Madeline R. Wessell
MASTER OF LAWS IN REAL PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT
Robert Traurig-Greenberg Traurig LL.M. in Real Property Development
Justin Gregory Alexander (C)
Sergio Daniel Amiel Olcese
Darlene Yvette Bell-Alexander
Lucas A. Cabrera-Ramon
Daniel Cross (C)
Cameron Scott DiGiacomo
Christopher Charles Green
MASTER OF LAWS IN TAXATION
Yigal Adhami
Randall Thomas Fitzgerald
Nicholas R. Jackson
Gabriela M. Jimenez
Milica Karanović (C)
Megan Leise
Ilan Haim Marouani
Olivia Marriott
JURIS DOCTOR
Catherine E. Adams (C)
Luke R. Adams
Nathalie E. Adams (C)
Bryce C. Akins (C)z
Justin Gregory Alexander (C)
Victoria Allahar
Amanda C. Alvarino
Arianna Maria Amato
Heather Anbar (M)
Brandon Andal
Temur Andrianov
Valentina Arbelaez
Elizabeth M. Arritola (C)
Daniel Hernandez
Julia H. Hollo (C)
Derrick A. Jackson
Gonzalo Mathieu
Andrew Simeon Mezzich
Samantha G. Shekarchi
Robert Kennedy Yazbek
Justin G. Miller
Malen Nousari (M)
Raphael E. Perez-Blanco
Maddison Taylor Sharp
Cassandra Lynn Sollitto
Sarah L. Thelemaque
Georgia Theodora Zavos
Lily N. Arslanian
Ammar Issa Asad
Jake D. Auger (C)
Alec A. August
Kendall M. Aumick
Nicole Azarian (M)
Adriana Colombina Báez (M)
Chester James Bancroft (C)
Robert N. Barasch (M)
Lawson P. Barkley (C)
Macarena A. Bazan (M)
Gregory Walter Beeson
Zakary S. Benjelloun
Christian Ramon Benson (C)
Kristina Beryl Bergman (C)
Mollie Faye Blank
Samantha Ann Bly
Maia Boatwright
Michael Phillip Borell
Maia Botero (C)
Jerimiah A. Boyd-Johnson
Lauren Mercedes Braceras
Jacob Robert-Jennings Bruner
Taylor J. Buffa (S)
Sophia A. Burke
Alexis O. Burns (C)
Alexandra Buroz Morales (C)
Javier L. Bustamante (C)
Kennedy Logan Byrd
Karla M. Carbonell
Esteban Cardona (C)
Shakira Carmenates Rosello
Ross Carpenter
James A. Carter (C)
Valerie D. Caso-Veras
Sofia E. Castellanos
Grace I. Castillo (C)
Michael M. Castillo
Roselyn P. Castillo (C)
Gabriella Castillo Castillo
Stefan Catana
Abbey C. Chen-See
Amanda Nicole Chica (M)
Kloee S. Ciuperger
Rebecca L. Clark (C)
Andrew Christian Merritt Co (C)
Rashawn M. Cobourne
Noah A. Cohen Fenster (C)
Ethan C. Copeland (C)
McKenzie C. Cossette
John Michael Costello Jr. (M)
Etienne Côté (C)
Giuliana De Jesus Coto Rodriguez (C)
Jordan Craig (C)
Daniel Cross (C)
Michael Csernecky
Damian A. Cuesta
Coleby A. Davis
Cristina Isabel De Castro (C)
Alexander Debs
Tiffany M. DeFranza (C)
Carmina A. Delfino
Javier E. Delgado (M)
John Joseph Dennis (M)
Oscar E. Detres Marquez (C)
Monica Diaz
Raquel A. Draghi (S)
Damon Roman Duchenne (M)
Ella C. Duckworth (C)
Alexa Fernanda Eckembrecher
Cassandra L. Egas
Brendan A. Epstein
Braden Michael Erwin
Karina Estrada
Amber N. Fabian
Nicole E. Fajardo (C)
Li Fan
Rania N. Farah
Jake N. Farbman
Asaf E. Fedida
Brian Feibus
Madeline G. Feit
Brian D. Fernandez
Taimaisú Ferrer Sin (C)
Daniela Ferrera
Luis Ferro (S)
Krystell S. Fienco (C)
Jaelin Nicole Figueroa
Emily G. Finch (C)
Kamari C. Finkler
Andrea M. Fiscu (C)
Alexander F. Flanagan
Lance Joseph Vaughn Fleschner
Joshua A. Flicker (C)
Maria Gabriela Franco Gonzalez
Arielle Frank
Kyra H. Frank (M)
Reed Michael Fricke (C)
Emily Ann Gafcovich
Bryce P. Garcia
Monserrat N. Garcia
Ygnacio A. Garcia-Saladrigas (C)
Benjamin T. Garonzik
Eleanor Giist
Helen E. Giles (C)
Aaron Howard Gluck (M)
David Golpanian
Alexis E. Gomez
Amanda Michelle Gomez
Angelo Gomez (C)
Amanda Michele Gonzalez (C)
Daren A. Gonzalez
Henry Gonzalez
Kevin Gonzalez
Marie A. Gould
Emily Nicole Grady (S)
Lindsey E. Graham (C)
Juliana Lauren Bianchini Greene (C)
Kasra M. Greiner (C)
Jeremy Idan Griff
Dante Groppo (C)
Emily J. Gross (C)
Erika Sophia Grossbard
Kaylin A. Guzman
Cassandra Hacker (C)
Jeff M. Haham
Steven H. Halperin
Erica Elizabeth Hamilton (C)
Alexis B. Handler
Jacey A. Hanley
Michael D. Hanlon (C)
Blake Jennings Hawthorne (C)
Sophia Marie Heidler
Cameron Helm
Elizabeth A. Hendrickson (M)
Christopher Charles Hernandez (C)
Estefania Hernandez
Darleidy C. Hernandez Ledezma (C)
Daniel A. Hernandez Medina (C)
Patricia Herrera (C)
Nicolas E. Hevia (C)
Janeal A. Hightower Fordham
Elizabeth L. Hintz
Kayla Berthenia Hippolyte-Wade
Samuel H. Hirsch (M)
Allison S. Hoch (C)
Joshua Hodes
Lauryn M. Holliday (C)
Julia H. Hollo (C)
Summa cum laude (S) Magna cum laude (M) Cum laude (C)
Celina D. Hood
Alyssa Huffman (C)
Gabriela G. Ibanez (C)
Asia Ifill
Connor Anthony Jaffe
Ummul-Baneen F. Jafry (M)
Rami Hassan S. Jamal (C)
Margo L. Jarjoura
Aisha Amber Jehaludi (C)
Sophya L. Johnson (C)
Henderson Jones
Ernesto M. Juan
Benji S. Jultak (C)
Sadye B. Kaner (C)
Ryder H. Kaplan (C)
Sahil Kapoor
Milica Karanović (C)
Joshua Katz
David M. Khazen (C)
Simran J. Khosla
Lauren King (C)
Isabelle Klayman
Carol M. Klock
Jessica Knopf
Craig T. Kochheiser (C)
Samuel Korchnoy (C)
Ariana N. Kravetz
Laura Kripka
Akshay Kumbar (C)
Megan Bolding Kypke (C)
Lindsey LaCamera (C)
Lauren N. Lackey (C)
Jasmine B. Lamy
Madison G. Lank
Natalie I. Lanz (C)
Ethan R. Lewin (C)
Lilli S. Lindenfeld-Levinson
Carlisle L. Linehan (C)
Alex D. Llanos (C)
Israel N. Lopez-Morillo (C)
Alessandra S. Lora (M)
William T. Lowman (C)
Evan J. Lowry
Danielle N. Lowsky
Andrew M. Lucas
Gabrielle Lucido (C)
Matthew Paul Mackey
Sophia Magill (C)
Amelia Grace Maingot
Matthew Joseph Mallon (M)
Daniel Mankaryous
Ariel Marcus
Gregory Marcus (C)
Dominique T. Marino
Kimberly V. Markus (C)
Mandalay Katherine Martin (C)
Andrew G. Mascia (C)
Lucas Maurice
Isabella Cristina Maury (C)
Leah Daly Meldman
Harvin Mezgin-Fahmi
Kira D. Mikes
Tiana R. Montague
Jeremy L. Montoya (M)
James A. Neary
Amanda Newberg (C)
Van-Anh Huu Nguyen
Marisa Nichols
Ryan Thomas Shields
Braedon Kent Sillars
Lauren J. Skidmore (C)
Jenna L. Skop
Hannah E. Smaglis (M)
Nia Smith
Jamie A. Sobalvarro
David A. Sosa (C)
Omarley L. Spence (C)
Samara I. Spiler (C)
Sydney L. Stark (C)
Lyana Steele
Julia Marie Steiner (S)
Laura Stinson
Claudia Surrentini
Talia Svid (C)
Clara I. Tome
Amber Rose Tomlinson
Nathalie A. Tortolero
Nicholas Paul Tricarico (M)
Diego J. Troncoso Breton (C)
Ariana Turkalj
Nicole M. Vahlkamp (M)
Gabriella Vaitzman
Bruce Derek Valladares
Samantha A. Van Helden
Brianna Marie Vazquez (C)
Jose Alejandro Vazquez
Christina Velazquez (M)
Nicole Vitt (C)
Alexander G. Waddington
Christina R. Warhola (C)
Katelyn B. Wattendorf
Laudori Acaa Webbe
Dylan O. Weingarden
Madeline R. Wessell
Abigail J. Wettstein (C)
Amelia B. White
Benjamin D. Wilkinson
Niara Ellison Williams
Eyga T. Williamson (C)
Isabella P. Wolstenholme (C)
Jacqueline Rae Yastrow
Robert Kennedy Yazbek
Tuana Tuba Yazici
Kaleigh Young
Julia Zayas (C)
Joel B. Zemach (M)
Olivia Zukowski (M)
JURIS DOCTOR/DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
The following candidates for the Juris Doctor have received or will also be receiving the M.D. degree from the Miller School of Medicine.
Adriana Colombina Báez (M)
JURIS DOCTOR/MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC INDUSTRY
The following candidates for the Juris Doctor have received or will also be receiving the M.A. degree from the Frost School of Music.
Mandalay Katherine Martin (C)
JURIS DOCTOR/MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
The following candidates for the Juris Doctor have received or will also be receiving the M.B.A. degree from the Miami Herbert Business School.
Robert N. Barasch (M)
Allison S. Hoch (C)
Connor Anthony Jaffe
Isabelle Klayman
Talia Svid (C)
JURIS DOCTOR/ MASTER OF PROFESSIONAL SCIENCE IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS AND SOCIETY
The following candidates for the Juris Doctor have received or will also be receiving the M.P.S. degree from the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.
Alexis O. Burns (C)
JURIS DOCTOR/ MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
The following candidates for the Juris Doctor have received or will also be receiving the M.P.H. degree from the Miller School of Medicine.
Alexa Fernanda Eckembrecher
SUMMER 2025
The following candidates will be receiving their degrees in Summer 2025.
MASTER OF LAWS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Luisana A. Albornoz De Salazar
MASTER OF LAWS IN TAXATION
Nathalia Andrea Gutierrez Silva
JURIS DOCTOR
Luisana A. Albornoz De Salazar
Summa cum laude (S) Magna cum laude (M) Cum laude (C)
ACADEMIC REGALIA
The custom of wearing academic dress stems from the Middle Ages, when scholars were also clerics and wore the habits of their monastic orders. Significant parts of academic dress are the gown, the hood, and the cap. Each
has a particular significance and is worn in accordance with standards established by the Academic Costume Code of the American Council on Education.
GOWNS
Gowns recommended for use in the colleges and universities of this country have different characteristics. The gown for the bachelor’s degree has pointed sleeves and is designed to be worn closed. The gown for the master’s degree has an oblong sleeve, open at the wrist. The gown for the doctor’s degree has bell-shaped sleeves. For the doctor’s degree the gown is faced down the front with black velvet and three bars of black velvet are sewn across
Agriculture Maize
Architecture Violet
Arts, Letters, Humanities
White
Commerce, Accountancy, Business Drab
Dentistry
Lilac
Economics Copper
Education Light Blue
Engineering Orange
Fine Arts
the sleeves. These facings and crossbars may be velvet of the color distinctive of the subject to which the degree pertains.
For all academic purposes, including trimmings of doctor’s gowns, edging of hoods, and tassels of caps, the colors associated with the different subjects are as follows:
Medicine Green
Music Pink
Nursing Apricot
Oratory (Speech) Silver Gray
Pharmacy
Philosophy
Physical Education
Brown
Forestry Russet
Journalism Crimson
Law Purple
Library Science
Lemon
Olive Green
Dark Blue
Sage Green
Public Administration, Foreign Service Peacock Blue
Public Health Salmon Pink
Science Golden Yellow
Social Work Citron
Theology Scarlet
Veterinary Science Gray
President Julio Frenk wears a black robe with four black velvet bars. The fourth chevron indicates this is the presidential regalia. The gown features orange and green piping as well as a doctoral hood lined in orange, green, and white— reflecting the official University of Miami school colors.
TAMS
The graduation tam is for those who have graduated with a masters or doctoral degree. Unlike the mortar board cap which is square in shape, the tam is actually circular in shape and are usually made out of velvet. What is common
between the mortar board cap and the tam is that both do have tassels attached to them which hang on one side when worn. These tassels serve the same purpose and are used during the celebrated turning of the tassel ceremony.
White cord—Summa Cum Laude
Orange cord—Magna Cum Laude
Kelly Green—Cum Laude
CORDS
Hunter Green—Completed the pro bono challenge of seventy five hours of pro bono service during law school career
HOODS
Hoods recommended for use in the colleges and universities of this country have the following characteristics. The length of the hood worn for the bachelor’s degree is three feet, for the master’s degree, three and one-half feet, and for the doctor’s degree, four feet. The hood worn for the doctor’s degree has panels at the sides. Hoods are lined with the official color or colors of the college or university conferring the degree; more than one color is shown by division of the field color in a variety of ways, such as chevron or chevrons, equal division, etc.
The binding or edging of the hood is velvet or velveteen, two inches, three inches, and five inches in width for the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees, respectively, while the color is indicative of the subject to which the degree pertains. For example, the trimming for the Juris Doctor degree is purple. No academic hood should ever have its border divided to represent more than a single degree.
SOME PERMISSIBLE EXCEPTIONS
Members of the governing body of a college or university are entitled to wear doctor’s gowns (with black velvet), but their hoods may be only those of degrees actually held by the wearers or those specially prescribed for them by the institution. In some colleges and universities, it is customary for the president, chancellor, or chief officer to wear a costume similar to that used by the head of a foreign university. The chief marshal may wear a specially
designed costume approved by his or her institution. Persons who hold degrees from foreign universities may wear the entire appropriate academic costume, including cap, gown, and hood. Members of religious orders and similar societies may suitably wear their customary habits. The same principle applies to persons wearing military uniforms or clad in special attire required by a civil office.
KENTE CLOTH
Kente cloth is woven by the Asante people of Ghana and the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. The origins of West African weaving may be traced back as early as the 11th century, with regional excavations showing spindles and looms. Only men produce kente cloth’s narrow band weaves, which are 2 ½ to 4 ½ inches wide, on horizontal
treadle looms. Certain Ewe cloths are historically specific to particular rites of passage, such as marriage or the birth of a child. In present day Ghana, the wearing of kente cloth has become widespread to commemorate special occasions. Globally, the print is used in the design of academic stoles in graduation ceremonies.
